I've been treading water
I can't tread anymore
I’m bone tired and weary
I can hear Niagara roar
But it’s not too late, there's still time
If I'm worth saving,
Somebody toss me a line
That song was true for a very long time. It was almost literally accurate.
At the beginning our journey together, my executive producer made it clear that he would not be providing me with any personal financial support. If I wanted to take the journey, I had to pay my own fare.I think it was a wise choice. I'm actually glad he did not. Eleven years later, I owe him so much, but I owe him no cash.
Today, we are involved in viable, profitable ventures. We have an substantial song catalog that may yet one day be sold. to shop. He invested no cash, but he did invest many hundreds of hours of hi time. He laid the goodwill of his associates on the line by representing me to them and presenting my music to them. He coached me and taught me and inspired me and nurtured me. With his guidance, I became AN ARTIST.
John Hanti is my Yoda.
While I am still, to some degree, treading water, the water is not nearly as turbulent as it was in the early years. A couple of months after I signed with SST, Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, MS offered me the position of Chief Communications Officer. It was more money than I had ever made. But it would spelled the end of my songwriting career.
When I sought John's advice. "What's the worst that could happen?" he asked, "if you chose to follow your dream?" You wind up living on a boat in the Keys diving for your dinner every night,” I declined the job offer. So instead of living the upper-middle-class corporate life all these years since, I have lived the life of a starving artist. I have tread water. But I regret nothing.
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